Quality over quantity!Precision over bulk as the Swiss would say!I have the same questions, but so far I have been unable to find any convincing answers.Since our civilization is virtually a continuum, unlike Greek, Roman or Egyptian, Mayan or Aztec, there has been not dead stop; more spring cleaning of assets. Perhaps our ancestors believed in the modern green mantra - reduce, reuse, recycle. Our philosophy and way of life may have contributed, I think. Sampath
was it some thing to do with how one worshipped God?
was it more with the earlier form of worshipping through fire?
Was it beacuse God was searched more inwards once a certain level is reached?
The earlier process was going on the two stage of
1. strict adherence to rituals in stage one ( Vedas - karmakandam)
2. And once the mind is prepared, throw all the rituals and search the god inwards.( Upanishads, Gyana Kandam)
The temple concept must have come later.
The Ramakrishna missions books on upanishads say, the temple serve this by simplifying the process.
You go around the big praharams and the mind is pacifed slowly to the experiance and by the time you reach the sanctum, the mind is prepared and you can fully concentrate on the lord. This is an easier formfor us.
I dont know whether this is the reason for not building initially and then building later.
I believe in only one thing that whatever they did had a meaning.